Happy 2021 from ORGANIC INDIA Medical Director Dr. Alejandro Junger

Aren’t you happy that 2020 is over?

But replacing the 0 with a 1 will change nothing if we don’t get to the root of why 2020 was so bad. 

It’s easy to blame COVID 19, but the virus just pulled the trigger. The gun was loaded by the pre-existing pandemic of chronic diseases, most of which are the result of a long-standing inflammatory state. At the root of inflammation is a metabolism that is not in balance, and the main reason for that is that we live in a way contrary to Nature’s design.

Unless we reclaim the influence and rhythms of Nature, we will not unload the gun, and we will be susceptible to something else pulling the trigger in the future. 

Sleeping when the sun goes down and waking up when it comes out (or the closest to that that you can realistically get to) has been proven essential for an organism to function optimally, which will be reflected by a healthy metabolism. This is a great example of how realigning with nature’s rhythms can heal us.

Eating in a way closer to nature’s design is one of the main approaches I use when helping my patients, with incredible results. Whether that is by simply eating real foods, and not food like products, following a strict elimination diet, doing a detox program, intermittently fasting or going keto, once we learn how to use food and eating as medicine, we can dump many, if not all, the medications we thought we depended on.

Ayurvedic medicine is rooted in the understanding that Nature not only designed all life forms individually, but also designed them to be interconnected. It put medicines into different life forms that benefit others. It also seeks to understand what natural processes in the body are most out of balance with nature and prescribes ways to re-balance it. One way in which Ayurveda attempts rebalancing with nature is by discerning the natural body constitution of each patient by determining their dosha imbalance. All prescribed treatments will be guided by the dosha that needs rebalancing.

One of the most powerful ways to realign our metabolism with nature is by using plants. There is a practice in Japan called Shinrin-Yoku, which translates as ‘forest-breathing’. It is simply going for a walk in a forest and breathing that air. It has shown to be beneficial for many chronic conditions.

Science has tried to explain this ‘scientifically,’ pointing us to the fact that the smells are caused by terpenes, chemicals that we inhale, that similarly to CBD, activate all sorts of beneficial metabolic pathways. But since science can only measure the measurable, it shows us only part of the story. 

Another part of the story of why plants can be powerful medicines I learned from Dr. Narendra Singh, in Lucknow, India. I was spending time with him at his humble home while he was seeing patients, treating them for the most varied of chronic problems that I ever saw any one doctor do. He mostly treated them with Ayurvedic herbs. Allergies, depression, cancer, autoimmunity, digestive issues and many other problems, he treated with herbs. And he got the most incredible results. Once I noticed this, I asked him why, and if it wasn’t in a way just replacing pharmaceutical pills with herbal pills.

His answer stayed with me and is now part of my thinking and understanding. “NO, he said. ‘I am not replacing pharmaceutical pills with herbal pills, even though that alone is a miracle. I am introducing the prana of these plants into someone’s body so that it can do its work of realigning that body with nature by the powerful vibration of its prana. 

“Prana is the life force in any living being — it is the vibrating energy that organizes its molecules. The prana of Ayurvedic herbs is medicine in the sense its vibrations can, by resonance, affect your cells and even your thoughts and emotions. Ayurvedic herbs also have vitamins, minerals, fiber, antioxidants and many other components that can be easily measured by science, but that is just part of the story.”

One way to think about it is that you are not breathing these plants, you are eating them, you are letting them into your bloodstream. This is an amazing way to start unloading the gun in 2021. Introduce Ayurvedic herbs to your life and help Nature do its work within you. Learn more about beloved herbs such as Tulsi, Turmeric, Ashwagandha, and Amla.